Our Favorite "Observer Microscope"

We really like our microscope!! For the past three years we have been on the hunt for a microscope that would fit our current family's needs but could also grow with the children as their science became more involved in the high school years. Now I have to admit when I first started my search I was very ignorant of what I wanted.

My dad has spent his life's work behind a microscope as a Paleontologist so this is where I began my search. He was very helpful in pointing out the different kinds of scopes out there on the market. Then my head began to swim with all the different facts so I started to ask around my home school community to see what others were using.

I was given a lot of different recommendations and the closest that came to what I was looking for that was within my price range was the Sonlight Microscope ($197) and Nature Plus Workshop Microscope ($200). The only problem with both of these scopes at the time was that they both used tungsten bulbs. This type of bulb poses a problem that if the scope is left on longer than 20 minutes then it really heats up. This was a problem for me because I wanted the children to have all the time they needed to sketch their observations and if we were to do any wet mount slides the heat would dry out the specimens. I see that Sonlight has since changed over to the fluorescent bulb.

At the time I could not find anything better on the market so I actually settled for the latter of the scopes because it was on sale for $195 with free shipping. Well the very week the scope arrived I was on line doing some research for free 'microscopic experiments' when I ran across this wonderful website. Now why I hadn't run across it before in all my many many many microscope researches on line before I will never know???GreatScopes is operated by veteran homeschoolers and even offers a discount to home schoolers on their scopes!!! I called the company for more information and within 24 hours they returned my call and answered all my questions. I found their customer service fabulous and their prices beat everything on the market hands down!! For the same quality microscope I could purchase this one for only $179 and even better they used a fluorescent bulb verses the tungsten bulb!! But, I have to admit what I found even more appealing was that the microscope could actually grow with our family. I didn't have to buy all the bells and whistles up front but could add them to my scope as the need arises!!

So I promptly returned my other scope and purchased my Observer. I have to say we absolutely love it and HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it!!!

Discounted Ink Cartridges

Oh my goodness this is a deal that is just too good to keep a secret....

Last year my good friend Carolyn had referred me to a company she had been using for quite a while to purchase ink cartridges at a discount. The company's name was Tyler-Martin. Carolyn seemed pleased with their products and I trust her opinion but still after a lot of consideration I was just too
chicken hesitant to use discounted cartridges in our printer out of fear that they might ruin it.
 

Here at Knotty Pines we really rely on our printer for everything so if something were to happen to it we would be in really bad shape. Well my concerns didn't last long because in just over a year's time our Epson cartridges went up in price drastically. The individual colored cartridges went up to over $13 each and the double capacity black cartridges went to over $37. What ended up happening was we stopped using the printer anyway because it got to the point were we didn't have it in the budget to replace the cartridges.

During our preparations for the new school year I asked Carolyn again who she was using for her ink cartridges. To my amazement not only was she still using Tyler-Martin, she was still very pleased with their quality of ink and seemed even more pleased with their costumer service, AND her Epson printers were still in fine working condition.

So I took the plunge and now I will never look back. I was able to purchase a complete set (double capacity black, cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges) for only $20.95 with a flat shipping rate of $6. You do the math but that is an amazing savings. I have found the quality of ink no different than Epson's cartridges, at least for what we print out in our school and home, and the customer service has been fabulous with same day shipping, so I know I don't have to wait weeks to get a new cartridge. I still haven't found any company that offers our Epson's cartridges cheaper.

My only regret... I should have done this earlier.... I could have saved a lot of money -- sigh!!!